et al. Artist Talk + Book Launch

Join us for a rare opportunity to hear directly from the enigmatic Aotearoa New Zealand collective et al. For two decades, et al. has offered viewers incisive reflections on ideology and power structures through their singular installation practice. For this artist talk and book launch, they are in conversation with MUMA Acting Senior Curator, Melanie Oliver, and writer Jan Bryant, whose new essay on the collective features in the et al.: epochal publication.

This program takes place in conjunction with the exhibition et al.: epochal, MUMA, 5 October – 7 December 2024.

About the publication

The publication accompanies epochal, the New Zealand collective et al.’s first Australian survey exhibition at Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA). Curated by MUMA Senior Curator Pip Wallis, the exhibition features a comprehensive presentation of the artists’ work, including a new film. This marks et al.’s largest presentation outside New Zealand since the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.

et al. comprises a constellation of artists and shifting identities, their anonymity calling into question the nature of authorship and the persistent preoccupation with the singular artistic vision. Their practice brings socio-political and philosophical reflections to bear on ideologies, power structures and models of collective thinking. With the increasing circulation of mis- and disinformation online, et al.’s practice provides a critical perspective on the growing polarisation of political attitudes and erosion of democracies worldwide.

This major publication, designed by Žiga Testen and Stuart Geddes, is richly illustrated and includes newly commissioned essays by Jan Bryant, Natasha Conland, Gwynneth Porter, and Pip Wallis. For the first time, it features a comprehensive bibliography and history of exhibitions, significantly contributing to the scholarly recognition of et al.'s practice.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition et al.: epochal, MUMA, 5 October – 7 December 2024.

^{Image: et al., many to many, 2013. Installation view Freedom Farmers: New Zealand Artists Growing Ideas, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2013. Image courtesy the artist and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.}